A mid-air plane panel blowout last week caused passengers’ ears to bleed as people clung to one another and texted loved ones, according to harrowing details described in a new class-action lawsuit.
Six Alaska Airlines fliers and a relative are suing Boeing, the maker of the 737 MAX 9 aircraft, on behalf of all 171 on board after the event over Portland, Oregon, on January 5.
One woman “experienced so much pressure she thought her head would explode,” the suit said.
“As the airliner flew on, passengers feared they would not survive the flight. Thoughts of a complete plane malfunction and possible destruction naturally entered their minds.
“Some prayed. Some texted family to express their trepidation. Some gripped and clung to one another. Some adult passengers were crying. Most were eerily subdued in their collective helpless state, muted with masks on.”
As well as physical effects including bruising and fainting, most aboard were “emotionally traumatized” said the suit, with symptoms such as terror, fear of death or injury, worry, anxiety, reaction to sudden noises, flashbacks and reluctance to fly.
It also alleged that, as air rapid depressurization sucked out of the plane, many oxygen masks did not seem to work, with flight attendants carrying oxygen bottles to some before the aircraft made an emergency landing.
A Boeing spokesperson contacted by Newsweek declined to comment on the suit.
National Transportation Safety Board/Getty Images
Experiences documented in the lawsuit offer fresh insight into the immediate aftermath of the blowout. Witnesses previously told reporters the shirt was ripped off one boy, who leaped over the woman next to him to escape.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating whether Boeing failed to ensure its plane was safe and matched the approved design. The agency has grounded most 737 Max 9s. Boeing said it would “cooperate fully and transparently.”
Reviews so far have uncovered issues such as loose bolts and Boeing’s manual not informing pilots the cockpit door would fly open during a rapid decompression.
Attorney Daniel Laurence, who is representing the passengers in the class action, told the Seattle Times in a statement Thursday: “Although everyone is glad that the blowout occurred while the crew could still manage to land the aircraft safely, this nightmare experience has caused economic, physical and ongoing emotional consequences that have understandably deeply affected our clients, and is one more disturbing mark on the troubled 737-MAX series aircraft.”
National Transportation Safety Board/Getty Images
Boeing faces revived scrutiny from the blowout following crashes in 2018 and 2019 involving a different version of the 737 Max plane, which killed a total of 346 people. The planes were grounded globally for more than 18 months.
The FAA has said the latest emergency “should have never happened and it cannot happen again.”
“Boeing’s manufacturing practices need to comply with the high safety standards they’re legally accountable to meet.”
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.